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Identity Theft Research Review: Types of Identity Theft

Depending on the definition of identity theft, the most common type is credit card fraud of various kinds. Evidence indicates
that the extent of credit card fraud on the Internet (and by telephone) has increased because of the opportunities provided
by the Internet environment. Some researchers prefer not to include credit card fraud in true identity theft, since it may
occur only once and may be discovered quickly by the credit card issuing company, often even before the individual cardholder
knows that the fraud has occurred. Other types of identity theft, such as account takeover, are more involved and take longer
to identify and investigate.

Seven broad types of identity theft—

Exploiting weakness in specific technologies and information systems.

Financial scams.

As a motive for other crimes (e.g., bribing employees to provide passwords).